Romance novels, as a genre, covers a multitude of different concepts, styles, and tastes, catering to the tastes of the readers who enjoy them. The worlds in which the novels are set, the circumstances in which the characters of the novels find themselves, the tone of the novels; all this can be as varied as there are leaves on a tree. Sometimes a reader may approach a novel (or in the case of this review, a set of novels) coming into it with preconceived notions, whether those are based upon a previous work of the author that the reader may have read, or on the ‘genre’ that the author may be associated in large with. Pleasant and surprising it can be, then, to discover something completely different when you start a novel and find that it is nothing like what you expected. Or, disconcerting and disappointing it may be, if it doesn’t meet your expectations. For the series of three novels contained in The Steamwork Chronicles, it is the former rather than the latter that I believe readers will find, if my experience is any indication. I had started this novel having read a story (‘Used’) the author contributed to the anthology When the Dark Wins, and my preconceived notion was that the stories in The Steamwork Chronicles would / might trend towards the dark feel of the story in the anthology. Putting aside some moments of implied dub-con / non-con, the three novels in The Steamwork Chronicles are as different from ‘Used’ as night is from day. These novels are fun, exciting action stories set in a steampunk setting, and are an absolute delight to read. If you’re looking for or expecting ‘dark’ here, you may be disappointed. But don’t let that stop you from reading these novels. You would be missing out on some incredible characters, some derring-do and exciting action, and some wonderful romance moments, and you simply don’t want that. There is enough ‘taste’ of the dark that should suffice in this series, and everything else that these novels offer is far and away enough to make up for any lack thereof.
While it would be possible to read any of the three novels as stand-alone, it is for the sake of a linear narrative best to read them in the order they are presented. The first novel in the series is Iron Dominance, followed by Lust Plague, and then the final book of the series Steel Dominance. Characters introduced in the first novel will later be found in the other two, as either minor characters, or major, so it works best to read them in order.
IRON DOMINANCE. This novel sets the overall tone for the entire series, and it is a good one. The main protagonist, Claire, has a secret, one in which she isn’t entirely sure of the entire background of, but which she knows is important to the circumstances she finds herself in. After an accident, she comes to be in the company and care of Theo Kevonis, and it is through her time with Theo that she discovers certain aspects of who she is, and the nature of her own wants and desires. This is made all the more difficult in context as Claire is not a ‘true human’, but a created being. So as not to give away details which the reader will find themselves drawn into while reading this, this creates a conflict between her and Theo, mostly of her own making. One of the real joys of this novel is how that story arc plays out. Claire is an incredibly strong, willful woman (not only mentally and emotionally, but she has been trained in a specific way that goes beyond those attributes alone), and yet because of her background there are aspects of who she is at her core that she only begins to have the luxury of exploring and discovering when she comes within Theo’s sphere. The surprise to this novel is just how much the author draws us into that arc, and how much we begin to empathize and care about the conflict that Claire is going through. Claire is, in many respects, a child. And so she brings to the reader an outlook regarding ‘adult’ things that is an almost child-like approach and viewpoint. She may know the textbook or core concepts of certain human behaviors, desires, etc., but she has no real-world experience in them. Because Theo treats her not as a ‘thing’, but as a true human being (something that has not been her previous experience), she starts to see the world around her in a different light, and experience things with an entirely new outlook. Since this is a romance novel, of course much of that revolves around her burgeoning sexuality and attraction to Theo. In this regard, there is an ancillary story arc which is woven in with this wonderfully; Claire discovers that her sexual desires trend toward submission, which dovetails in quite nicely with Theo’s obvious dominant tendencies. It is these two parallel story arcs which really truly honestly make this novel such a joy to read. We watch as Claire works through her self-doubts and concerns about who she truly is (and whether she is a person, or a simply a ‘thing’), at the same time as she discovers her attraction becoming love for Theo, and all that he opens up to her in that regards. There is an action plot which acts somewhat as a thread to weave this all together, but – honestly – that becomes a distant secondary or tertiary plot point to the real story, which is Claire. As I read through this, I couldn’t help but notice that these themes revolving around Claire are similar to those which been discussed in other books (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep; When HARLIE Was One). Is it the capacity to desire and experience an emotion as strongly tied to the human experience as sexual desire, or love, what defines something as being sentient or ‘human’? Or is that limited strictly to the biological function of birth from a womb? That becomes the crux of what sets Claire apart from others, and what Theo and she work together to resolve, not only from outside forces, but within herself. There are some truly beautiful moments here, some downright heartbreaking in their introspection. To add yet another layer on top of all of this is the secret that Claire continues to keep hidden through much of the novel, which is tied so closely to her own fears and concerns about what she is discovering about herself. That tension creates moments where as the reader you want to reach out and grab her and say “Stop this! Say something!” However, as it resolves itself by the end with everything else you can accept why Claire struggled so intensely with withholding that information, even as you say “Well, you would have saved yourself so much trouble and hurt if you’d just said…” The power in this story is that even during all of these struggles, you can’t help but feel drawn to Claire, and want desperately for her to accept who she is, and accept that she deserves the things that are being put before her. All this makes the HEA here, when it happens all the more powerful and pleasing overall.
The world-building in this first novel sets an overall tone for the rest of the series, and it is yet another reason why I enjoyed it so much. It is such a delightfully quirky world, as befits the steampunk conceit. If you are familiar with Foglio’s Girl Genius you will immediately feel right at home here. Clockwork mechanicals, steam powered vehicles of all types; it’s all here. For those who are either not familiar in any way to the steampunk aesthetic from other sources, or for whom that is not something that appeals to you, do not worry. Not knowing of it beforehand, or not finding it appealing overall, will not have a detrimental impact to the greater power and themes of this story. While this reader personally found it to be a wonderful bit of backdrop to the novel, it in and of itself is not the driving factor in why you should read it, nor will it impact your enjoyment of the novel in any way negatively. Claire is the real reason to read this novel. To hear her story. And what a wonderful story it is.
LUST PLAGUE. The next novel in the series starts in a completely different setting, albeit with still the same steampunk-esque vibe. From the beginning of this novel you get the sense that while some aspects of this story run parallel to the Claire storyline in Iron Dominance, there seems to be a differences in the premise here. The early part of this novel is also a bit disconcerting; the initial plot conflict comes on very quickly, and abruptly, and it was, to this reader, a bit off-putting. I qualify this by saying this is a temporary thing; as the first part of the novel progresses, you begin to understand the subtly of what the author is trying to convey regarding the plague that is the major plot device, and how it affects the characters. It is subtle, it overcomes them without warning, and it takes them over in such a way that is in itself as disconcerting to the characters of the novel as the way it is written and described by the author is, at first, to the reader. But that becomes a part of the story in and of itself. The lust plague is insidious, and how the main characters are taken over by it and respond becomes the driving force within this novel. Kaysana, the main protagonist, is the captain of the airship which has been sent to investigate the plague, and Sten, the man to whom Kaysana will find herself drawn to, is one of the ships onboard mercenaries. Circumstances find them caught up in not only coming to terms with trying to fight back against the effects of the plague when they both find themselves caught up in it, but also discovering how the ‘inhibition freeing’ aspects of the plague impact their own personal lives. The plague becomes more a metaphor in this respect in the novel that a simple plot device. The author uses the plague to explore how people react to each other in those early moments in a relationship when attraction, desire (and – yes – lust) can overwhelm rational thought. How would we each react differently in that quite normal situation we all have been through in some point in our lives, during those initial responses we have with someone we find ourselves attracted to? What if something were to take down all the ‘normal’ inhibitions we carry with us, and let us truly be ‘free’ to express our basic wants, needs, and desires? And when that freeing moment was behind us, how then would we come to terms with how we behaved, and would we accept what we had done and expressed, or try to repress it? Both Kaysana and Sten react in different manners, but each is essentially two sides of the same coin. That dichotomy is what makes this story hum, and even with the abruptness of the beginning, you later come to see how that itself helped play into creating the necessary environment and setting for the exploration of the theme that follows.
While I personally found that exploration of the relationship dynamic to be the driving story arc in this novel, there are a few others which come into play. This novel does have some of the same exploration of what defines a human vs. a ‘construct’ that is delved into with the Claire character in the previous novel. In Lust Plague Sten is also a constructed being, and Kaysana has some definite bias’s which become part of what she deals with during the course of the story. Perhaps it was because this same theme was explored so thoroughly in the first novel that it didn’t seem to be as pronounced or impactful to me in Lust Plague, but I did not feel it as important a theme in this novel as the relationship topic is. It is there tangentially, and it does tie in with some of the emotions that Kaysana experiences during her times in and out of the plague, but excepting for a brief period at the very end of the novel, I didn’t feel its impact as much as I did the other theme. That isn’t a bad thing, honestly, as the relationship arc is so much the driving theme with this story, and the ‘defining what constitutes being human’ conceit could easily have diluted that, which would have been unfortunate. Another story arc is the entire plague itself, and the aspect of it that turns people into zombies. Yes, this is also a zombie story. As a backdrop to everything else in this novel is the fact that the plague turns people (men specifically) into zombies. For this reader that was a part of this story that, while recognized as needing to be there to drive the overall plot forward, was not something that was particularly enjoyable. Unlike the previous novel, this part of the story trended towards horror, and at times was very brutal and dark. Again, I completely understood the necessity of it within the context of the story, and I can see where it may be a real draw for other readers who love that sort of milieu / world, but for me it wasn’t a big hook, and I didn’t really focus on it. I considered it nothing more than a necessary evil, but I can recognize where others might absolutely love it (the Walking Dead crowd…).
Lust Plague I would say was thematically the best story of the trilogy. It has shares some aspects of the first novel, certainly (Dominant / submission dynamics, and the ‘what defines a human’ theme re-explored), and yet it was that entire examination of how we as humans interact when we find ourselves attracted to another at the beginning of a relationship that made this novel so powerful. How those initial feelings, desires, wants, needs evolve, and then throwing in the twist of ‘so what if the inhibition walls’ were torn down at the start, that kept me hooked on this story. I felt drawn to Kaysana, and could empathize and understand some of the basic questions she was asking about herself. Is this right? Is this ‘normal’? Should I feel ashamed at these feelings, or should I accept them and own them? These are question which I believe strike a chord with most people, and they certainly did for me in this novel. Zombie hordes notwithstanding.
STEEL DOMINANCE is the final novel of the trilogy. The author does a hat trick here, and ties characters from the previous two novels together in this final one. The main protagonist in Steel Dominance, Sofia, finds herself the charge of one of the peripheral characters from the first novel Iron Dominance – Dankyo. The two are sent to a distant land to solve a riddle at the bequest of the ruler of that land. This novel, much like the first in the series, explores the sexual awakening of the protagonist while she must undertake the task of solving the riddle, while also trying to stay alive, AND deal with her growing attraction and feelings for her guardian. The added additional story arc concerns how her love interest, Dankyo, also deals with his own burgeoning feelings for Sofia, which are foreign to his very nature. The interplay between these two, and the tensions that arise from the conflict that each is struggling to overcome in how they grow into and accept what is happening between them, is what really drives this novel. In the previous two novels the focus was mainly on the protagonist in each (Clair, in Iron Dominance, and Kaysana in Lust Plague), and while that is still true in Steel Dominance, there is an additionally greater focus on the conflict going on within the secondary character – Dankyo, in this case – than was apparent in the previous novels. This leads for a very interesting he / she dynamic which plays out throughout the novel, and provides a differing ‘balanced’ portrayal of the relationship as it builds. As with both of the previous two novels the relationship is built around a dominant / submissive conceit, but here, because of the additional focus place on what the Dankyo character is thinking and experiencing, you get a better sense of the nuances from both perspectives on how their relationship builds and grows. It was a very nice change from the previous two novels, and one that I, as a reader, truly appreciated.
The world of this novel is much more alike to the first novel than the second. There is no zombie or plague elements involved here. The clockwork / steampunk vibe is very much the order of the day, and it works beautifully, especially given the nature of the riddle that Sofia must solve. Though I realize the zombie motif of the second novel is much in vogue, and has appeal to potentially a great number of readers, I found the more steampunk conceit of the first and last novel to be much more engaging. It was a large part of what drew me to this series, and it was refreshing to return to it in this last novel.
This final novel did incorporate one plot device which I did not like, however. Without giving too much away of the plot (and since this part of the novel is integral, one needs be careful of providing spoilers), there is a switch from the steampunk aesthetic in one critical aspect to a more ‘magical / fantasy’ based conceit. I found it somewhat jarring. While it does work overall within the flow of the novel, it was the only instance out of all of the novel’s where this style of plot device / element was introduced. Given all of the weaving of mechanicals, clockwork, et al within the context of each novel (including the second), I found this sudden introduction of that style of element a bit off-putting. This is not to say that it detracted dramatically from the novel overall, but it was simply a single element in the story in which I felt it switched form in a way that I didn’t feel fit in entirely. This is a minor quibble at worst, and should not dissuade any reader from the novel at all.
This series can best be thought of as a set of fun, action packed novels that address some serious themes regarding personal relationships. How we as people create them, accept who we are and what our desires, wants, and needs are within these relationships, and how we come to build them. Much more than the actual world-building in which these novels are set, fun though that may be, it is the interpersonal dynamics involved between the main characters that really draws you into these novels, and holds you there. The entire BDSM / Dominant / submissive aspects of each relationship in the novels are well drawn and discussed, so that those parts are made accessible even to those who may not share that lifestyle, or have much in the way of knowledge in it. However, that, in the overall scheme and plotting of the novels, isn’t even entirely necessary; the more basic, human emotions, concerns, tensions, and perspectives that the author weaves through these stories is core enough that the wrapper of specific sexual dynamic is almost incidental. The Steamwork Chronicles may be set in a world of clockwork dogs, voltaic weaponry, and airships of grandeur, but it is how the people in this interact and come together that you’ll remember long after you’ve finished the last page.
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- Reviewed in the United States on August 3, 2018
- Reviewed in the United States on February 5, 2018
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- Louise H - "Life In The Book Lane" Book ReviewsReviewed in the United Kingdom on February 5, 2018
Thoroughly enjoyed all three books
